An important part of caged bird-keeping is the use of perches for pet birds to stand on. The perches simulate the branches of trees that birds stand on in the wild. There are many types of perches that have been produced in the past. These have included wooden dowels of varying lengths, actual tree branches, extruded plastic rods and injection molded plastic pieces.
There are problems with each of these prior products. The wooden dowels have little texture, which is not conducive to keeping the bird's claws healthy. The tree branches can deteriorate and are expensive to make ready for attachment to the cage. The plastic rods and molded pieces typically do not have a rough enough or deep enough texture to exercise the toes of the bird's feet. Injection molded perches are typically open on the bottom, thereby having a large open gap such that the end of the claws is not pressed against anything. Extruded rods cannot be varied in diameter, thereby leading to a lack of stimulation of the feet and claws.
It is known art to make heavy-duty perches out of material such as concrete and sand. These perches are generally heavy and expensive and sold for parrots and other expensive birds. Typically, these items consist of a centrally located metal screw that runs through the entire center of the perch. Typically, the screw would be one eighth to one quarter inch in diameter and be surrounded by a circular shaped sand or concrete cylinder such that the entire perch is one half to one inch or more in diameter. The benefit of the sand or concrete is to create a rough surface so that the bird's feet and claws can be exercised. In some of these type perches the diameter of the perch is varied from place to place to further exercise such bird's feet and claws. The problem of such solid sand and concrete perches is their weight and their expense. Typically these perches retail for a minimum of $12 and as much as $30, making them unaffordable for the typical owner of inexpensive caged birds such as parakeets (also called budgies or budgerians), finches, canaries, cockatiels and lovebirds.